MUNCIE — Have a hankering for some fresh, tasty soup and $15 to spare?

If so, you can try more than a dozen varieties of the dish during the PrimeTrust Federal Credit Union 5th Annual Soup Crawl on Thursday, Oct. 1.

The event runs 5-8 p.m., and it's taking place in conjunction with the First Thursday ArtWalk event. The soup crawl will offer soup from 14 area restaurants and businesses, including several downtown favorites.

​Event goers can go from place to place throughout downtown — some non-downtown participating businesses will have tents set up near major intersections — and sample 4 oz. cups of soup from each of the restaurants. Each will get to vote for which soup was the best, Copley said.

Tickets are being sold at area PrimeTrust locations and participating restaurants; Ball State students will also be selling tickets the day of the event, she said.

The crawl is about more than just giving the public a chance to taste what local eateries have to offer, though. According to Vickie Copley, PrimeTrust's promotions organizer, the primary purpose is to help a local food bank with its food bag program for children and families.

"(Our) event is really a way to fund raise for Second Harvest Food Bank and their program for school children," Copley said.

The money raised during the Soup Crawl is used by the food bank to produce large bags of food, distributed once a month to local elementary school children in families with limited food resources, she said. Each bag costs about $4 to assemble, according to Copley.

"We are hoping to raise enough money to be able to serve about 360 children throughout the school year," Copley said. "Last year there was only enough to make it through four months."

With 500 tickets being sold for this year's event, Copley said the plan is for the tickets to run out before the soup does, and that people make the most of the opportunity — rain or shine — to explore downtown and try some good-tasting soups.

"We've run out of soup before ... It's a 'good' problem to have, in a way, because it means a lot of people participated," she said. "But we are hoping ... planning for 500 people at each location this year. We just want this event to be something that can ultimately benefit the families who need help getting food in our community."

Those wanting to get involved in the event can visit www.facebook.com/SoupCrawl to learn more about the event and how it benefits Second Harvest.